Tech Forum

I've been pondering, worrying, and fretting about where to put the single MR33 in our buildings knowing that:

1. Even IF we do get more, it will be awhile before we get them.
2. We're unlikely to get enough to blanket any building in good WiFi, ever.
3. If they come from the FM Group or Stake Budgets, they will be Cisco 702s, rather than more expensive Meraki MR33s.

Then it came to me, why?

Aside from Family History work and instruction, what other legitimate needs do we have for high-speed WiFi? The "Media Playback Overview" at mhtech clearly states, "Meetinghouse Internet should not be relied on for streaming media." So then, what else is there?

Is there ever a legitimate need for WiFi in a chapel that has an ethernet port at or near the pulpit?

Wouldn't we want to focus our resources on one or two rooms with great WiFi coverage, rather than tepid coverage throughout the building?

Hagothsen wrote:Then it came to me, why?

WiFi is not a requirement. It is a valuable resource to help Church leaders and members fulfill their callings and to help people learn about the Church and share the gospel. I would put it where it will best serve those purposes.

Personally, I'd prioritize the locations where leadership meetings are held. I'd follow that by where lessons are held.

While I wouldn't prioritize the chapel itself, sometimes leadership meetings and even classes are held there.

But I'd also work with the FM group in getting them to budget for the needed equipment to reasonably cover the building.

How old is your building and how big?

RyanGard1977 wrote:How old is your building and how big?

It's a "Legacy" architectural style stake center. Constructed in ~1999, ~25,000 sq feet. I don't know if we have wooden or metal wall beams in the walls. The structure upstairs leads me to believe its metal in non-load bearing walls. I'm sure the 18 large air handling units, ringing the building on the equipment platform (attic), play a major part in degrading wireless and wired signal.

~ Kim

The MR33 access points were sent with the new firewalls to replace the firewall's internal wifi where the internal wifi may have been a main source of wifi. This was determined by finding buildings where they had internal wifi on their firewall and little or no additional access points. I think the number was 3-4 or less but I don't know the exact number.

We didn't want to replace the firewall and leave the wifi suddenly crippled by the lack of wifi in the newer firewalls.

yarrgh wrote:We didn't want to replace the firewall and leave the wifi suddenly crippled by the lack of wifi in the newer firewalls.

Because this happened in our stake, we are working with our FM Group to reallocate an MR33 or two so that the real needs can be covered. For example, the bishop who was closest to the internal WiFi, and therefore showed a lot of usage, will be able to use the WiFi in the hall nearby. That MR33 will go to the building that lost half of its coverage when the 881W went away.

We wound up with the right number of MR33s. Some just need to go to other places than the algorithm suggested. The FM Group is very cooperative and agrees with all of the changes.